Humidifier unit



June 13, 1944- A. H. BAHNSON, JR

HUMIDIFIER UNIT 3 sneaks-sheet 2 Filed Feb. 13, 19 41 3 vuc n'iom AGNE W H BAHNSO/VJR.

June 13, 1944. A. H. BAHNSON, JR

HUMIDIFIER UNIT Filed Feb. 13, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Mowwizd Patented June 13, 1944 umree STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 1 V I v ,3 7 v nuMIniFmn UNIT 'ngne n; Bahnson, Jr., Winston-Salem, N C.

Application February 13, 1941, Serial No.378,816

50mins. (o1. 261-30 This invention relates to humidifier units, and particularly to humidifierunits for use in or-forming parts of air conditioning apparatus of the wet duct type. I I I The humidifier units previously employed in such apparatus have "comprised afan'and a water-throwing disk on a motor shaft and at opposidesides of the motor, the axis of the motor shaft coinciding with the axis" of the duct. Humidifier units of this type can-be designed to meet particular requirements for'any given installation, but the effective output ofa unit, in terms of the quantity of air circulated or of gallons of water evaporated per hour, could not be materially altered to, meet different maximum demand condtions ,Each wet duct humidifier installation was individually designed and any substantial' change in the normalload on the apparatus usually resulted in inefiicient operation or necessitated a replacement of the humidifier unit. Furthermore; the direct motor drive of the fan and disk gave'rise to appreciable noise and'vibration as the motor and fan were" operated at rela tively highspeed to obtain good evaporative efiiciency from the disk. I Y j An object of the present inventionis to provide a humidifier unit, for use in wet duct systems,v that may be readily adjusted for efiicient opera-' tion over wide ranges of air and of wateroutobiectisto" provide a humidifier unit which includes'an air circulating fan and a re-' volving disk that are driven by a common motor, and thatimay be individually operated at speeds that are best adapted for efficient fan and efficient revolving disk operation; A further object is. to provide 'a'huml'di'fierunit, for use in wetduct installations, in which a low speed fan and high speed; water -throwing disk are individually driven by belts fromfa motor that is'mounted outside of the" duct. "More specifically, an object is to providahumidifier units' suchas stated above inj-wfiichthe low speed fan is of the type having a high efiiciency when operated overa wide range of speeds corresponding to a' wide range of output capacity,wherebythe useful capacity of the unit maybe changed by altering the-speed ratio of the belt drive to the air circulating fan.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention' will beapparent from the following specification" when taken with the accompanying drawings iirwhich-z 'Fig. fragmentary plan view of a wet ductair conditioning system including a humidifier unit embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is aside elevation'of the-same:

1 Fig. 3 is aside elevation on an enlarged" scale and partly in section, of the humidifier unit'as itisseeni-nFigzZ; I ,v

Fig.- 41s a similar side'elevationof the --umid;i

. fier unit as viewed from the opposite side of the duct system; andy Y 1 Figs-5 and 6 are complementary end elevations of the humidifier unit.- 1

In Figs.*1 and '2, which illustrate one duct of an air conditioning system, the reference numeral l identifies the 'mixing chamber of the duct that is located adjacent an outside 'wall' 2 and the ceiling-3 of the room or mill space in which the air is to be conditioned. The chainher I has an inlet 4 for outside air and an-inlet for air that is drawn from the room. A heating section 5 is preferably arranged at the recirculated air inlet and louvres 6; 1' are provided at the fresh air and recirculated-air inlets, respectively, to control the relative quantities of these air components. A modulating motor 8 adjuststhe louvres in response to temperature and/or humidity control devices, not shown, within the room in the usual manner. The humidifier unit H of this invention is located between the mixing chamber l and the duct 9 that extends across the room and has outlet nozzles l0 that may extend from one side or, as'il lustrated, from both sides of the duct. A filter screen may be placed between the mixing chamber land the humidifier unit H, and a troug-h or drip pan l2 extends beneath the duct and mixing chamber to collect water that condenses upon the relativelycoolduct when a high humidity is maintained within the room. The duct section in advance of the-humidifier has a drain pipe-or opening to discharge to the drip pan all water that separates from the air stream within'the duct 9.

' The humidifier unit" H includes a duct section comprising annular end frames [3 of anglecross section to which'a sheet metal "plate I4 is pera manently attached; as'by weldingyandto which another plate I 5' may be clamped, 'by bolting to the fianged edges of plate [4 to form ahousing connecting the mixing chamber 'l'to the duct 9. The removable cover-plate extends over an arc of about and the fined housing plate l4 extends over about 270 of the circumference of the housing; 'Strap's P6 are welded to opposite sides of the metal plate M for connection to the hangers that supportthe humidifier unit'froni the ceiling of the' room. v

A fan I! or the type having a high efiiciency over a-w'i-de" range' -of speeds an'da correspondingly wide range of output capacity is 'rotatably fler system, a housing comprising annular end frames, a housing plate permanently attached to said frames, a removable cover plate detachably secured to said frames and flanges on said first plate, a skeleton framework secured to said housing, fan shaft bearings on said framework, a fan shaft journalled in said bearings, a fan and a pulley on said shaft, a motor and means supporting the same upon the housing, a belt drive coupling said motor to said fan shaft, water-atomizing means including a rotatable disk on a shaft, means supporting said disk shaft within said housing, a pulley on said disk shaft, and a belt drive coupling said disk shaft to said motor.

2. In a humidifier unit for a wet duct humidifier, a fan shaft and a disk shaft individually journalled within and axially of the housing, said fan shaft being at the air entrance end of the housing, pulleys on saidshafts, a motor and belt drives cooperating with said pulleys to operate said fan shaft at a lower speed than said disk shaft, a fan on said fan shaft, a water-throwing disk on said disk shaft, and means within said housing between said fan and disk to eliminate the rotary component imparted to the air stream by said fan; said means comprising a pair of complementary bafile members each comprising a semi-circular inner and outer member, and

radial vanes extending between and secured to said members.

3. In a humidifier system, an elongated duct having an inlet at one end for relatively dry air and having spaced discharge outlets at the other end, a fan within the duct adjacent the inlet end to establish a current of air through the duct, water-atomizing means within the duct and at the outlet side of said fan to introduce a mist of water into the air current, said means being of th type that imparts no angular component to the current of air, a plurality of groups of vanes between said fan and said water-atomizing means to eliminate from the air current approaching the water-atomizing means the rotary component imparted thereto by said fan, and means individual to each group of vanes for supporting the same within said duct.

4. In a humidifier system, the invention as recited in claim 3, wherein the duct is cylindrical, and the supporting means for each of the groups of vanes comprises an inner and an outer arcuate member secured to the vanes of that group.

5. In a humidifier system, the invention as recited in claim 3, wherein said duct is cylindrical, and there are two complementary .groups of vanes.

AGNEW H. BAHNSON, JR. 

